Philosopher
Tony Brueckner of UC Santa Barbara died this week. Tony was a professor of mine when I was in
graduate school, and served on my dissertation committee. I remember him as an excellent teacher, a
formidable philosopher, and a nice guy with a droll sense of humor. I recall a phony pop quiz he handed out in
class one day. The first multiple-choice
question read: “What is your name? (A) Bruce, (B) other.” After a reference he once made to the tune in
a comment in the margins of a term paper of mine, I can never listen to Steely
Dan’s “The Fez” without thinking of Tony.
Tony was a
philosopher’s philosopher, and his work was largely devoted to a rigorous
investigation of the philosophical issues surrounding Cartesian skepticism. No one seriously interested in that topic can
avoid grappling with Tony’s work on it, most of which is collected in his book Essays
on Skepticism. Related issues
are pursued in Debating
Self-Knowledge, co-written with Gary Ebbs.
By all
accounts (such as this
one) he was a kind man. R.I.P.
That's very sad. He seemed like a great guy. May he rest in peace.
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